


twinkle twinkle little thief

by nekrateholic



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M, platonic. it's all platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-05 15:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15866328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekrateholic/pseuds/nekrateholic
Summary: "What did you do?" Junhui asks five seconds after Minghao makes it through the door and slams it shut behind him.or: minghao steals something he really shouldn't have and faces the consequences





	twinkle twinkle little thief

**Author's Note:**

  * For [acrazyworldofdreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/acrazyworldofdreams/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Magpie like Tendencies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14930114) by [acrazyworldofdreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/acrazyworldofdreams/pseuds/acrazyworldofdreams). 



The diamond is heavy in Minghao's palm. He squeezes it harder, the uneven edges cutting into his skin. There will probably be repercussions for staining a magical artefact with his blood but right now, Minghao's too preoccupied with  _ running for his life _ to think about that. It's why Junhui always tells him  _ I'm the brains of this duo, you reckless goddamn fool-  _ But Minghao has had years upon years to hone his Junhui-ignoring skills (and his inner voice screaming what an idiot he was, for that matter. His inner voice sounds a lot like Junhui anyway).

He's going to have to explain this to Junhui pretty soon whether he likes it or not but that's another thing he prefers not to think about.

For now, his only priority is to try and dodge the cat-eyed mage on his tail long enough to reach their hideout, possibly without getting himself  _ or  _ Junhui killed.

It's a pretty noble reason to ignore your nagging conscience, if you ask him.

*

"What did you do?" Junhui asks five seconds after Minghao makes it through the door and slams it shut behind him.

"What makes you think I did something?" Minghao replies stubbornly. He's wasting precious minutes by not explaining the situation straight away. Any second now the cat-eyed mage will burst through the door and most likely obliterate them or something but - but the look in Junhui's eyes sets all the defiance Minghao holds ablaze. And he has a lot of that. 

It doesn't matter that Junhui, as always, is completely right.

He sighs and gives Minghao another one of his Looks. This one says he knows exactly what Minghao is doing and doesn't sympathize one bit. "The sooner you tell me what's wrong, the better chance I have to think of a way for us to get out of it unscathed." Junhui takes one last look at Minghao's frazzled state. "Mostly," he adds with another sigh.

Begrudgingly, Minghao takes the gem out of his pocket where he'd stashed it right before he entered the apartment. Junhui's eyes go impossibly wide.

"Please tell me this is not what I think it is," he begs, actual pleading notes in his voice.

Minghao forces his face to remain impassive. "It depends on what you think it is."

"Oh my god," Junhui breathes. Then, louder: "Oh my  _ god,  _ you absolute idiot."

"Look-" Minghao starts but is interrupted by a loud crash somewhere down the street.

Junhui hurries to the window, cautiously peeking outside. He turns to stare at Minghao, expression void of emotion. "Please tell me I did not just see that Rapunzel mage blowing up the neighbours' garage."

Minghao shrugs. "I don't know, pretty sure it was the cat-eyed one that was chasing me home."

Junhui's eye twitches. He waves a hand around and two travel bags jump out of the wardrobe, a few pieces of clothing following right after, just to fold themselves up and dive inside the bags. One of the bags flies straight towards Minghao's face. He manages to catch it before it could break his nose or something. A travel bag shouldn't be able to do this but Minghao isn't about to start doubting Junhui's magic when under pressure (and annoyed). "Pack anything of value," Junhui grits, stuffing his own pouches of various spell ingredients in the other travel bag. "We're running away while we still have the limbs necessary to do so." He gives Minghao another Look. "And the diamond stays here."

"No." Minghao states, squeezing it again. The edges dig into his palm once more, albeit not strong enough to draw blood. It's comforting, somehow.

Junhui, yet again, sighs. "I'm not trying to question whatever connection you have to this stone, Hao. I swear I'm not. But you and I both know that the diamond needs to stay here, where they'll be able to find it and hopefully appreciate the gesture enough to not hunt us down. Right away."

It's not until then that the gravity of the situation finally sinks in. 

Minghao just stole the most prized possession of the leader of the most powerful coven on this side of the Earth. 

The diamond clatters onto the floor. "I really fucked up this time, didn't I?"

Junhui's travel bag, previously swishing violently in the air, slows to a halt. Junhui himself gives Minghao a sad smile. "Yeah, you did." One of his scarves floats to wrap itself around Minghao's neck. "But we'll deal with it. We always do."

*

Some years back, a rumor blew up like crazy in the magical community.

An ancient, ridiculously powerful stone, a diamond, had been found. And the one to find it? Choi Seungcheol. Understandably, it quickly became the number one desired artefact for every thief, Junhui and Minghao included. They never got to trying to steal it, however, because a few brave souls tried it before them. None of them returned. Another rumor quickly followed the first one - that Choi Seungcheol and his friends killed everyone who so much as breathes in the direction of the diamond. That didn’t deter the thieves, though - it only served to make them more determined. A few of them even returned, only to shiver in fear, retelling horrors a man should never see.

Needless to say, the attempts at stealing the diamond died out soon after that.

Choi Seungcheol and his friends formed a coven - there weren’t enough people in his little gang of mages but no one dared say anything. Their power only grew after that.

Minghao is still not sure how he managed to steal it.

He’d been in his favorite pawn shop, trying to trick Bambam into buying his latest catch at an unreasonably high price (as always). And then - then  _ he  _ showed up.

He never introduced himself but Minghao knew he’s from Seungcheol’s coven. Everyone knew who they are, more or less, but this one was definitely from the more part. Minghao might not know his name, but his cat eyes are something one does not forget easily. The mage said something about balance, something like  _ It’s getting too strong again, we need to balance it out - _

This is all Minghao remembers before he  _ felt  _ the diamond. It called out to him, almost like a physical thing. When it finally came into view, almost blinding Minghao in his haze - he knew his fate was sealed.

He blew up a bag of pixie dust in the mage’s eyes, snatched the diamond from his hand before he had time to catch his bearings and  _ ran. _

And so it began.

*

Minghao is still thinking about the stone. It just... It felt  _ right _ .

The worst part is, he knows Junhui knows.

They don't talk about it out loud but Junhui's eyes always snap towards Minghao whenever he examines the scabs the stone's edges left on his palm. Sometimes he pokes them to see if they hurt.

They do.

(And it's pleasant, somehow.)

“We can’t stay here too long,” Junhui says, absently kicking a stray piece of brick in Yanan’s basement. He was kind enough to hide them for the moment and as much as Minghao appreciates his readiness to help them, all three of them are aware that if they overstay their welcome, Yanan is going to be dragged into this mess right with them.

If he hasn’t been already, that is. 

So Minghao just nods mutely, not willing to be the one to speak the worst-case scenario into existence. Yanan’s is the fifth basement they’ve hidden in the past two weeks and Minghao is well aware that very soon, even Junhui will run out of friends willing to help.

“What are the chances they’ll stop looking for us?” Minghao asks, not entirely sure he wants to know the answer.

“Nonexistent,” Yanan says, ever with the perfect timing. He closes the door behind him, three cups of tea floating in the air around him. They gently land on upturned crates that serve as their table. Yanan watches them for a bit, then his eyes meet Junhui’s. ”The rumor mill is going crazy right now but I have it on good authority that they’ve sent Soonyoung after you.”

Junhui swears under his breath. He turns to Minghao, expression murderous. “Did you really have to steal Choi Seungcheol’s favorite toy?” There must have been something in Minghao’s own expression because soon enough, Junhui’s glare melts into something softer, more tender. “It’s okay,” he says stirring honey into his tea with a level of resignation Minghao is not used to seeing. “We’ll get out of this. Somehow.”

*

It was a good thought. 

It really was, while it lasted.

They’ve barely made it far enough from Yanan’s place to relieve him of any suspicion when Soonyoung finds them. He has that tall lanky dude with him - the one who rarely speaks. Out of all of Seungcheol’s gang of murderous assholes, Wonwoo is the one true enigma. No one in the magical community has lived to tell the tale of what he can actually do.

If they ignore Wonwoo’s presence as a whole (not a great idea at all but they desperately need to), both Junhui and Minghao can hold their own in a fight against Soonyoung. For approximately fifteen minutes.

Fifteen is a good number though, Minghao thinks. Enough for Junhui to run away and keep hiding - with Minghao gone, maybe they’ll even stop chasing him? But one look at Junhui’s determined expression tells Minghao neither of them is going anywhere.

Oh well. Whatever goes down, it’ll be the two of them. As always.

Wonwoo blinks owlishly at them and turns to look at Soonyoung. “They’re planning to fight.” Then, softer: “They’ll lose.”

“Even I could tell you that, magic boy.” Soonyoung cackles.

Wonwoo frowns. “Stop saying that, you’re a mage too.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Soonyoung replies, waving a hand around. “But you’re our special snowflake, aren’t you?”

Wonwoo frowns again but this time, he keeps silent.

Minghao can sense Junhui readying himself for an attack. Soonyoung looks at them, something like pity in his eyes. “I’m sorry, boys but I don’t feel like playing today.”

He spreads his arms out and the fire bursts out of him, swallowing him whole. The last thing Minghao remembers is all that fire rapidly heading in their direction and Junhui’s horrified scream when Minghao jumps in front of it.

*

When Minghao finally drifts back into consciousness, it's slow. There's a lot of pain involved, too.

"He's so cute!" Someone whispers somewhere to his left. Minghao keeps his eyes closed \- there's a bigger chance they'd survive this way.  _ They. _ All he has right now is the blind faith that Junhui is somewhere next to him.  _ Alive. _

"Yeah, Mingyu, you said this already. Three times." Another voice says, exasperation clear in his voice.

There's a sigh, a new voice and this voice Minghao can recognize everywhere. The panic suffocating his heart lets up a little. Junhui is alive. "You keep talking like I'm not even here," he says to whoever's there. Minghao fights to keep his eyes closed, even though his entire being begs him to open them, to make sure Junhui is really there.

There's a rustle of fabric on the other side of the room. "The other one is awake, too."

Minghao vaguely remembers the voice as Wonwoo's - probably. He was too busy trying to figure out a way not to die in that parking lot to try and memorize voices.

Junhui chuckles and - they're in the hands of Seungcheol's coven, possibly about to die. And Junhui is laughing. And he says Minghao is the idiot in this relationship.

"It's okay, Hao," Junhui says softly. "You can open your eyes."

When he finally does, Minghao is met... with a smiling face. There’s a mage standing in front of him - and there's no doubt he's a mage, what with the waves of calm and strength radiating from him. A healer, then. Junhui is there too, thank god - Minghao has heard _ stories,  _ about mages so capable, they’re able to mimic people’s voices perfectly. When he concentrates a little harder, he can feel Junhui’s life force too, warm and familiar. It somewhat calms his heartbeat. Junhui’s hands are tied with a silky scarf; Minghao's are as well, and he can feel the spell weaved in the threads. They can't use their magic like this. What strikes him as weird, though, is not this.

They're on a couch.

It's a nice couch, too. Comfortable, a muted yellow color with lavender flowery patterns. It seems they're in some sort of a living room - definitely not what Minghao expected from being caught by Choi Seungcheol's coven.

Minghao's eyes finally snap towards the person right in front of him.

And he promptly chokes on air.

Choi Seungcheol's eyes crinkle with his smile and right now, in this moment, Minghao doesn't find him terrifying at all (even if his common sense screams the opposite).

"I'm glad you're finally awake," he says, twirling something between his fingers. Minghao sucks in a sharp breath. It's the diamond. "You see," Seungcheol starts, smile growing wider at whatever feeling Minghao's traitorous eyes are currently sporting, "it seems you've bonded with this baby right here."

The blood drains from Minghao's face.

But then again. Why isn't he dead yet?

"There's a prophecy, you see," Wonwoo says. Minghao startles - he almost forgot he was there at all. Wonwoo grins at him. "It says we're to find a precious stone, beautiful enough to enchant all who see it - powerful enough to destroy all unworthy of its beauty."

Seungcheol twirls the diamond between his fingers again. "We found it, as you can probably tell. None of us got destroyed, thankfully - but none of us bonded with it, either."

"And now I did." Minghao states, not quite sure where this is all going.

"They want us to join them, Hao." Junhui says, nudging Minghao's calf.

"Initially," Wonwoo starts again, "we only wanted you," he says, waving a hand in Minghao's general direction. "But it seems you two are a package deal. That, and we'll probably die before we detach Mingyu from your friend."

"Hey," the healer - Mingyu - squeaks. Then he narrows his eyes at Junhui. "Are you two like... a thing?"

"Lord, no," Junhui laughs. His expression straightens into a dead serious one soon enough. "I would die for him though."

"He would," Wonwoo agrees. "The feeling is reciprocated, too."

Seungcheol sighs. "Wonwoo, what have I told you about privacy? Just because you  _ can  _ dig around their emotions doesn't mean you  _ should _ ."

"He's a seer," Minghao says incredulously. So this is why no one knows what Wonwoo can do. "I thought they're extinct."

"And we'd like to keep it that way," a new voice pipes in. Soonyoung materializes next to Wonwoo a few seconds later, only to flop on his lap. He grins up at Wonwoo. "You're our precious magic boy, aren't you?"

Wonwoo rolls his eyes but says nothing. He doesn't throw Soonyoung off, either.

Minghao turns back to Seungcheol, who's looking at him expectantly. "I'm not going to kill for you."

"We rarely ever kill people, though." Mingyu says, eyes flicking to Junhui every few minutes. He seems not to realize he's doing it. "And when we do... They're not good people, that's for sure."

"We mostly stun them," Soonyoung pipes in again. "Like I did with you two. Then Mingyu heals any serious wounds and Wonwoo erases their memories."

"Sometimes I replace them, too" Wonwoo snickers. "Gotta keep the rumors alive."

Junhui's hand finds Minghao's own and he squeezes it gently. "I think it's worth the shot, Hao. We can be a part of a real coven."

"Can we say no?" Minghao asks, steadily avoiding Junhui's eyes. He needs to make this decision on his own.

"Sure," Mingyu says, confident, like he's the one in charge. For the first time, Minghao thinks,  _ Maybe that's how it works here. Maybe they trust each other.  _ "Wonwoo will erase your memory, though."

Wonwoo nods from the other side of the room.

"There's eleven of us right now," Seungcheol starts, voice laced with... hope? "If you two join, we'll be thirteen. The coven will be completed."

"We'll be unstoppable," Soonyoung says excitedly, straightening up. Maybe it's the light playing tricks on Minghao's eyes, maybe it's the fire he can sense burning in Soonyoung - but his pupils are bright orange flames, flicking like candles on a windy night.

Minghao stares at him, then at Junhui, who's quietly waiting for his decision. He knows, whatever Minghao decides, Junhui will be right there with him. It's a comforting thought.

Seungcheol twirls the diamond between his fingers again.

"Okay," Minghao says, after what feels like eternity. "Okay."

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> dear acrazyworldofdreams,  
> i had a lot of fun going through your fics <3 hope you don't mind this turned out a little more lighthearted than the original, i'm terrible at sad stuff ;;; (i hope you don't mind magic too much, haha)  
> but enough rambling! thank you for allowing me (the fest? details, details) to play with your fics, it was a a pleasure :3 i hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it :3  
> i'm not to blame for the title. really. I is a terrible enabler.


End file.
